I'm coming home to you
by Rupzydaisy
Summary: She feels like she fits inside her new skin. The room smells the same, even if the desktop has changed. There's even the same thrum in her bones from the vibration of the engines deep down in the heart of the TARDIS. It's a sound she'd never not recognise, no matter what she looked like.


I'm coming home to you

There's a silence ringing in her ears now that she's alone. It's the first time since she's regenerated that she's properly feeling like herself, aside from all the running and saving people's lives. She feels like she fits inside her new skin. The room smells the same, even if the desktop has changed. There's even the same thrum in her bones from the vibration of the engines deep down in the heart of the TARDIS. It's a sound she'd never not recognise, no matter what she looked like. It was always the same as it had been, ever since she had first stepped foot inside; it was the feeling of home. It buoyed her heart up when she thinks about how the door clicked open to her, with this new face. It was knowing that her TARDIS would recognise her with any new face.

"Hello, are you there?" The Doctor asks, and her voice bounces off the golden panels on the walls and sinks into the shadows at the edges of the dim room.

She'd look like she was talking to herself, or that's what the humans would think if they could hear her. But she had sent them off into the corridors with the promise that they'd find bathrooms and beds where they could get the sand out of their hair and have a proper sleep before they landed back on Earth. They deserved it after all that running.

Her new friends.

It warms the cockles of her hearts, really does.

The giant crystal at the heart of the console hums along quietly, set to a lovely cruising speed. Outside, in the eternal night of space, they're zipping across galaxies of spiralling stardust just twirling endlessly through space. There's a hundred, billion different planets between here and Earth, and so many people, aliens, creatures, just living their lives in this snapshot of time and they're passing through all of them.

Her heartbeats speed up at the thought of it. All the wonder her new eyes will see.

The Doctor leaned over the silvery console, inspecting each and every section of the new layout. The dark metallic lattice pattern encircling the central console area was very sharp looking, and yet under the dim lighting it gave a cosier feel to the room. Everything looked shinier, warmer. Golden. The old girl had spruced herself up. Kind of like how she felt in this new regeneration.

She pinged one of the exposed springs by the hourglass and grinned at it. "This is lovely. You look great!"

The console thrummed and the crystal flared a darker shade of purple. Above her the lights glared brighter for a split second and glinted on the edge of the typewriter she could use to send messages or select tracks from her music library.

"Oh, you deserve a good compliment. Especially the way you came back right on time." She leaned forward again to tuck away some exposed wiring and then tipped her head closed to the base of the time rotor. "They're a good bunch, helped me keep my head straight when I thought you weren't coming back. I've really, really, _really,_ missed you, old friend. I couldn't even imagine being this new me without you."

She considers draping herself over the console in the approximation of a hug, but then reconsiders because it would be an uncomfortable hug with a lever sticking into her side. Instead, she settles for a fond tap and lets out a soft, happy sigh.

"Did you miss me? It felt like you were gone for ages. I have a lot to catch you up on. I landed in Sheffield, of all places! Lovely hills. Not so lovely Senza kidnapping humans, but I soon put a stop to that. And then there was this rally, but all they really needed was a bit of teamwork. You can bet I knocked a few heads together!"

She fell silent, admiring the six panels in turn and tapping on the little bits and bobs. There was a translucent crystal miniature of the TARDIS and she reaches out to touch with her finger. This time round her hands were a bit smaller, the skin smoother and less wrinkled. They're delicate looking but sturdy enough. And they were especially handy when she had to drag herself up on the crane.

A new thought suddenly occurs to her and she quickly fishes into her new coat pocket and pulls out her new screwdriver. She waves it in the air, "I had to make a new sonic. It was sort of a make do and mend situation, but it seems to be working fine."

With a flick of her thumb, she switches it on and it glows yellow to match the console. "Not bad, huh?"

"And I've been finding out all sorts about myself. I've got a northern accent again, how cool?" She stills and then flings her arms out for the biggest new surprise of them all. "And I'm a woman! Finally! I like the hair. But my legs are shorter and I'm not too sure about this nose. Aw well, I've still got both ears which is a plus too."

There a wheezing from the corridor that travel up from the pipes where a valve has loosened over time to leak out great puffs of air. The Doctor's new laugh mirrors the noise. It's light and airy, filling up the room and floating down the corridor. The warble travels on through the TARDIS to cross through hallways. It circles around the kitchen, glides under the glass dome of the observatory, before sinking into the rows of books and plush carpets in the library on the other side of the space-and-timeship, and the sound is completely hers.

"I think I'm happier, this time around. I've got this feeling, right here." The Doctor puts a hand on her chest, "Brighter, like there's less on my shoulders, you know. All whimsy-like."

She clicks her teeth and declares, "I've got that regeneration feeling."

Then she walks around to the other side of the console, half bouncing on her feet and sucks in a breath to ask a burning question. "So, what do you think of the new me?"

The TARDIS chimes brightly with the underlying din of bells and whistles going off. Somewhere under the console there's a low pitched rumble that matches the way the lights in the console room flicker. It strikes the blue glass patterns on the walls and throws arcs of light around in the air.

She feels some relief but it fizzles away in the presence of pure excitement. "That makes me glad."

Her smile grows wider and then dims. She reaches out to adjust their course a fraction to the left and looks down sheepishly.

"Sorry about the key situation. I didn't mean to lose it. I got new pockets on top of everything else."

The TARDIS console whirred loudly in response, sparks flying up from near the monitor. There was a loud click as a grey panel unlocked and the two flaps decorated in High Gallifreyan flung outwards on their hinges. The Doctor leans and her short blonde hair falls down into her face. She tucks it back behind her ears before taking a closer look. Inside the panel was a shiny golden key. She picked it up carefully, feeling the warmth of the new metal between her fingers.

"I promise I'll take good care of it."

Satisfied with the vow, the panel flaps swung shut with a noisy click and the Doctor tucked the key away into her coat pocket.

She strolls over to the other side of the console and claps her hands together. "Okay, what else have you got for me? I can see a triple temporal transistor, very nice...and over here we've got a...ooh what is that?"

The Doctor considers the binary resistors for a long moment before slapping herself on her forehead lightly, "Oh, of course, you've fixed the astronuclear plotter."

Her hands run over the new changes to the desktop, finding old forgotten settings anew. Dials were turned, switches flipped, and some pressure levels were adjusted. Eventually she comes across the biscuit dispenser again. This time round, with a look of determination, she firmly presses down on the pedal twice. Two fresh custard creams slide out promptly and her eyes flash with amusement.

"Result! You know, I think I like these a lot. Or at least my new tongue does. I could eat a whole room full!"

Leaning down to pick them out, she realises something was missing in that section of the console and searches around to try and figure it out. Her fingers glide over the odds and ends, accounting for each function and mapping out their new places.

"Huh, the mustard's gone. But this is different...sealed tubing. Heat resistant. Platinum superconductors for something very important, I'm guessing."

She reaches an epiphany and pulls down on the lever directly above the biscuit slide where a hidden panel inside the console rotates outwards to reveal a navy mug. Waggling her fingers over the area around it, she found a corresponding button and holds it down. A stream of hot tea quickly fills up the mug and she beams at the ceiling.

"This'll do quite nicely, I reckon." The Doctor said, flopping down onto the chair to watch the galaxies whizz by on the monitor, biting into the second custard cream. "A good brew and a biscuit, and the whole of time and space."


End file.
